Wanna Get Married?
by xNotGingerx
Summary: While comforting Rachel over the loss of Finn, Puck throws her for a loop- and she tosses him one right back.


**Summary: While comforting Rachel over the loss of Finn, Puck throws her for a loop- and she tosses him one right back.**

**A/N: Because it's Puck, and it's Rachel, and the idea of this just makes me smile**

**Rating: T**

**DISCLAIMED**

Rachel opened her locker and wiped at her eyes furiously while staring at her reflection in the tiny mirror hanging on the locker door. Her cheeks and eyes were red, her eyelids puffy and her cheeks tear-streaked. She looked like a mess, which suited perfectly because she felt like one.

She'd never felt this horrible before- not when they lost Regionals, not when Finn had dumped her for kissing Puck, and not when they lost Nationals. This feeling was ten times worse than losing Nationals.

She and Finn were done- permanently. He had asked her to meet him in the choir room before school started, because he had something he wanted to talk about. Rachel had something she had wanted to talk about as well.

She'd let him lead her to a chair and sit her down, figuring she'd let him speak his piece before making her case. And that was her first mistake. Because Finn had gotten down on one knee and pulled a velvet box out of his pocket. Finn had gotten on his knee and asked her to marry him.

She should have been ecstatic. Two years ago- even a year ago- this would've been what she wanted more than anything. Finn Hudson, asking her to spend the rest of her life with him. But that was two years ago, and she wasn't that silly little girl anymore. As she'd stared in horror at the box, Finn had looked at her weird and said her name with confusion, like his plan had included her automatically saying yes.

Rachel just blinked at him and opened her mouth, unsure for the first time in her life what to say. So she told the truth.

"_Finn, I… I came here this morning to tell you that I wanted to end our relationship." She looked down at her hands, twisting her fingers together to mirror her feelings. "I just… lately, I've felt you pulling away from me, and I know that you don't really want to go to New York. It wouldn't be fair to ask you to give up your dreams and desires for me any more than it is to ask me to do the same for you. I know that I had hoped to have both Broadway and you, but after a long search, I realized that if I can only have one, I want Broadway." She looked up at him and smiled sadly. "I'm so sorry. I never thought you'd be proposing."_

After that, it had been silent for a while before Finn got angry, yelling at her that he'd put a lot of effort into their relationship, and she was the one who'd wanted him from the start, and now she was just throwing it away to chase some stupid dream. He'd thrown in her face the possibility that she might not be good enough for Broadway, and asked what she'd do then. Rachel had just looked at him, shocked that this was the same boy she'd dedicated herself to. He'd gotten angry with her before, but he'd never said something so hurtful.

He'd almost immediately regretted it, saying he hadn't meant it and was sorry, but Rachel was stung and say it for what it was- a ploy to get her to stay so he could convince her to stay with him in this small, dead-end town. So, Rachel had done what she was famous for- she walked out.

Now, she stood before her locker and tried to fix the damage Finn's words had done to her psychically, all the while telling herself he was wrong. She _was _good enough for Broadway. She'd known she was since she was three.

The early bell rang, letting any students in the building know they could officially go to class if they liked, but Rachel stayed at her locker, taking down all the various Finn-related items she'd pinned up over the course of their on-again-off-again relationship. She piled them together and threw them in the nearby trash can. When she turned around to return to her locker, she saw Noah leaning against the one next to it.

Of course. She'd forgotten he'd been coming in early lately to get in some time on the equipment in the locker room. Something about getting ready for baseball season. Rachel put on her best smile and walked back over to her locker, ready to greet her friend.

He _was_ her friend, too. They'd been friends since sophomore year, after their break up on the bleachers. It was nice having someone like Noah to talk to and do things with, even if he pushed her buttons and she (according to him) drove him insane. "Noah." She said as happily as she could. "Good morning."

"You got any food, Rach? I skipped out on breakfast this morning, and I'm freaking starving." He rubbed his stomach and tried to look pitiful, and Rachel genuinely laughed in spite of her turmoil. Leave it to Noah to start cheering her up before he knew what was wrong. She pulled a zip-loc bag of sugar cookies out of her trolley and dangled them in front of him.

"I was saving these for lunch, but I suppose you may have them. Breakfast _is_ the most important meal of the day." He grabbed the cookies and began munching while Rachel sorted through her books and papers for everything she needed for her first three classes.

When the cookies were gone (in record time), Noah walked over to the trash can and tossed the bag. On the way back, he paused, then kept going and took up his post again. "'Sup with your locker?" He asked.

"I don't know what you mean." Rachel replied primly, sliding some of her books onto the shelf inside.

"Where's the Finn shrine? I mean, c'mon Rach, the dude's been a staple in your locker since sophomore year. You just updating the pics?"

"If you must know, Finn and I broke up. It was rather unsavory, so I would prefer not to look at his picture." She shut her locker door and looked at Puck, hoping he wouldn't notice how her lower lip quivered.

He did. "Shit, Rach, what happened?" He looked around as the first bell rang and grabbed her hand. "C'mon." He led her down the hallway, her pink trolley rolling behind her, and into the auditorium. He sat them down in the back row and then looked at her. "Talk."

Rachel shook her head. "It was coming for a while; I knew it was. It wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be, at least at first."

Noah ran a hand over his mohawk. "Shit, Rach, I'm sorry. I was actually kinda hoping he wouldn't be a douche this time, and it'd work out. At least so you could be happy."

Rachel blinked, touched by his sentiment. It was no secret that Noah- while one of Finn's friends- was a strong advocate for the end of Finchel. The only ones pushing stronger were Santana and Kurt. The idea that Noah had actually supported her relationship with Finn, simply for her happiness, made her heart ache and brought a smile to her lips.

"Thank you, Noah, but I think you misunderstand. I broke up with him." He stared at her in shock, and then grinned.

"Didn't know you had it in ya, Rach. Good for you."

Rachel grimaced. "Yes, well, it was ill-timed. He had asked me to meet him in the choir room before school. I thought he had another lecture on how I could be just as happy here as I could in New York, so I thought I'd let him speak his piece and then tell him I wanted to break up."

"So, I'm guessing he didn't have some stupid speech?"

Rachel shook her head and looked at Noah. "He proposed to me." She watched as Noah's brows furrowed, and then as his eyes got wide.

"You're shitting me."

"He had a ring and everything."

Puck let out a strangled laugh, and then tried to sober. "So… he proposed, and then you dumped him?" Rachel nodded, and Puck let out a breath. "Let me get this straight. Finn Hudson, the dude you've wanted since sophomore year, your 'leading man', your stupid fairy tale prince, asked you to spend the rest of your lives together, and you told him you wanted to break up?"

"Yes, Noah." Rachel said, a little irritated now. It somehow sounded so much worse (and it was already pretty terrible) the more he repeated it.

Suddenly, Puck full-out laughed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, tugging her against his side. "Rachel Berry, you are my hero! God, I wish I could've seen his face! Shit would've been priceless! Wait 'til San hears about this!" He kept laughing as if it were the funniest thing in the world.

Rachel didn't agree. She dug her tiny little elbow into his side until he let her go and looked at her in confusion. "While I'm glad you find this so amusing, it isn't nearly as hilarious as you paint it. He was very hurt, and he yelled at me."

Noah sobered in an instant and his face darkened. "What'd he say?"

Rachel crossed her arms over her chest and looked away. "He said that he hoped I got to New York and wasn't good enough for Broadway, and that when that happened, he wouldn't be there to take me back. He said that he hoped I ended up alone and without my dreams." Rachel wiped at her eyes even though they weren't wet, because she was sure she'd start crying again soon.

Noah's arm slid around her shoulders and pulled her against him. Rachel rested her head on his shoulder and rubbed her cheek across his shirt, inhaling the scent of chlorine, clove cigarettes, dip and Axe body spray, and closed her eyes. Noah's hand was rubbing her arm comfortingly, and the rise and fall of his chest was soothing.

"Rach, he's a moron. He doesn't know how good he had it. You're better than Broadway, and _when_ you make it there, you'll have lots of people who love you cheering you on. I know I will be."

"Thank you, Noah." Rachel smiled half-heartedly and let him continue rubbing her arm, feeling better knowing he was there. Noah had always had that effect on her. Their friendship went two ways- they were either at each other's throats (which always left Rachel feeling hot and bothered, bothered mostly by how flushed and hot she felt) or it was easy-going and relaxing, like now, where Rachel was so comfortable with him she almost felt like there should be more. But there wasn't more, and Rachel was unsure how she felt about that.

They sat in silence for a little while, until the second bell rang and they were officially late for class. Rachel Berry was never late for class, but she didn't want to move. She was caught up in a moment. Besides, she was sure someone like her (with 11 years of perfect attendance under her belt) deserved a respite.

There wasn't a sound in the auditorium except for his breathing and hers, and it was the most soothing, beautiful sound in the world. Rachel closed her eyes again and let her body fully relax, feeling sleepy and content. She vaguely wondered if Noah would let her take a nap on his shoulder. She was suddenly so tired…

"You wanna get married?"

Noah's question jerked her out of her haze, and she moved away from him, looking up at him in shock and confusion. He ran a hand over his 'hawk nervously and seemed to fumble with his words.

"That totally wasn't what I meant. Shit. I meant, do you wanna make out?" Rachel stared at him incredulously, and he pushed his palm against his forehead. "Shit, I didn't mean that either. Do you wanna go out sometime?" He looked at her in despair.

"With you?" Rachel asked, just to be sure she was hearing correctly. "Like, a date?"

"Well, yeah." Noah said simply, shrugging his shoulders.

"But why?" Rachel wrinkled up her nose in confusion as she thought back. Noah and she had been good friends for a while, but never once had he really shown any interest in something further past that week in sophomore year and that time in Junior year when he kissed her before abandoning her because of Finn (she liked to think they had a moment when they sang "Need You Now" but for all she knew that was just her ridiculous school-girl brain overreacting again).

Noah looked hurt for a moment. "Why'd you think I pushed so hard for you to get rid of Finn? I kept my mouth shut time and again when he hurt you, because you thought he'd make you happy, and I wanted you to be happy. I picked you up from a fucking Christmas tree lot after he just left you there." Puck snorted in disgust at the memory. "I thought I was being obvious, Rach."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "You weren't."

"Fine." He said. "I'll be more obvious." He grabbed her face in his hands and pulled her forward, smashing their lips together.

"Oh." Rachel exclaimed breathlessly, after he'd kissed her for a good solid minute. "Oh."

"Yeah." He smirked. "Oh." He leaned close to her face, close enough that his hot, sugar cookie breath tingled over her skin. "If it helps, I have a full ride to NYU. It's the only college I applied to besides SUNY."

Rachel smiled brightly, still a little breathless. "Noah?"

"Hmn?" He said, tracing patterns on the skin of her arm.

"Can you be more obvious again?"

He chuckled and leaned closer, smirking. "Anytime, babe. Anytime."

"By the way," she whispered, just before his lips touched hers. "Yes."

"Yes, what?" He whispered back.

"I'll marry you."

**A/N: Does anybody watch Family Guy? You know Quagmire's hilarious freak outs ("Ohmigod, Ohmigod, Ohmigod)? Yeah, I had one of those when I went back to proofread this one final time. I'm not usually egotistical about my work, but I done good with this. **


End file.
